Build a rain barrel

2 to 4 concrete blocks (to allow room for a bucket to fit under the spigot)

3/4-inch hose spigot

Drill

Saber saw

3/4 x 1-1/4-inch threaded pipe nipple (used as overflow connector)

Window screen

PVC cement

WHAT YOU’LL DO

1. Wash out the barrel with a solution of 1/8-cup bleach and 5 gallons of water.

2. Drill a 15/16-inch hole a few inches from the bottom of the barrel. Thread the spigot halfway into the barrel, apply PVC cement onto the threads and continue screwing it in until snug.

3. Using the same procedure as the spigot, install the 3/4-inch overflow connector a few inches from the top of the barrel.

4. Choose a good spot for the rain barrel. It needs to be close to a rain downspout and a short distance from your plants and gardens.

5. Raise the barrel off the ground by placing it on concrete blocks. Reconfigure the downspout so it empties directly into the barrel. Use the screen to cover the open hole in the barrel to prevent insects or debris from getting in.

6. If you’ve installed an overflow, you can attach a hose and direct the water to another part of your yard.

I made one of these two years ago and I cannot use the water fast enough! I love it and have yet to have problems with Mosquitos. I use the water on my flower beds, vegetable garden, and have a bottle of camp soap on it to wash my hands too!

Guys, anyone having trouble with mosquitos is because you didn’t read carefully enough. In the listings of the materials you will need it says “Window screen”. Just take out the top of the barrel, place the window screen, and screw the top back on.

One trick for mosquitos if the barrel always has “some” water and is in a shady, not-too-hot spot is to put a goldfish in there. It has to be bigger than the spout though! It will eat the mosquito larvae and it’s poo will add nitrogen to your garden.

Great project – wish we’d thought of it – we bought a commercially built water barrel. Standing water may allow mosquitoes to breed – get some beneficial bacteria mosquito control rings at your garden or home improvement center. The bacteria eat the mosquito larvae. The screening alone may not prevent mosquitoes … and you don’t want to potentially spread disease like West Nile.

You can also contact a local car wash owner, they get soap and water treatment in large blue barrels. Most of these barrels are not the lidded style though. But that works out fine for a water barrel. Just clean it well I recomend letting watter sit in it for several days after a good clean then dumping it. (sometimes the soaps and treatment leech into the plastic).

This is a great project guys! It may take a little time and effort to get the stuff to do it, but ask your parents or another adult for help and it will be much easier to get the parts.
Car washes, restaurants, pickle processors all will have these barrels. Just look around. You’ll be surprised.